Studs and Duds from Week 5 in College Football

Week 5 of the 2012 college football season may well go down as the “week without a defense,” meaning we have lots of offensive studs to celebrate now that the dust has settled.

Yes, in the wonderful world of studs and duds and heroes and desperados, a Saturday filled with a salvo of offensive detonations brings the yard getters out of the gridiron woodwork.

The following slideshow gives you a slew of studs and a deluge of duds from what was a memorable Week 5.

And in doing so, we remember that lurking behind every final score are the tales of individual athletes' performances that combine to write a new chapter in the dusty yet glorious tome of college football history.

Stud: Bishop Sankey, Washington

Sophomore RB Bishop Sankey reeled off 144 yards in Washington’s shocking 17-13 win over No. 8 Stanford, including a 61-yard TD dash at the end of the third quarter.

The long run closed the gap to 13-10 Cardinal, and were the first Husky points since a field goal in the first quarter.

Sankey’s achievements are even studlier in light of the fact that Stanford touted the No. 1 rushing D in the nation coming into Thursday night’s game, meaning they’d only allowed 41.67 yards per GAME coming into Week 5.

Stud: Benny Cunningham, Middle Tennessee

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Perhaps the most stunning performance combined with the most shocking result in Week 5, senior RB Benny Cunningham’s 217 yards of rushing and five TDs propelled the Blue Raiders to a 49-28 win over Georgia Tech.

The last time Middle Tennessee beat a BCS team was back in 2009, when they nipped Maryland 32-31 on their way to a 10-3 record that ended with a win over Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl.

Duds: The Baylor and West Virginia Defenses

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The ugly side of a glowing offensive explosion is always a generous, total-tolerance defense.

Baylor and West Virginia’s defenses combined to give up 1,507 yards (1,237 through the air), 67 first downs and 133 points in the Mountaineers' 70-63 defensive juggernaut win over the Bears in their Big 12 opener.

Studs: Stedman Bailey and Tevon Austin, West Virginia

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At the receiving end of Geno Smith’s pass-happy explosion this past Saturday were junior WR Stedman Bailey and senior WR Tevon Austin, who combined for 518 yards receiving and seven TDs in the big win over Baylor.

Bailey racked up 303 yards and five scores on 13 receptions, while Austin pulled in 14 balls for 215 yards and two scores.

Stud: Michael Mauti, Penn State

Mauti’s first INT came at the end of the second quarter on an Illinois 4th-and-goal at the Penn State 4-yard line. Mauti returned the ball 99 thrilling yards, which led to a blocked field goal as the half expired.

The second pick came late in the third quarter and also occurred in Penn State territory.

Stud: Dri Archer, Kent State

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If you’re wondering how Kent State nipped Ball State 45-43 despite giving up 557 yards of offense, look no further than junior back Dri Archer.

Archer did it all for the Golden Flashes and racked up 72 yards rushing, 104 yards and two TDs as a receiver, and then tacked on 174 yards and an additional score (via a thrilling 99-yard return) as a kick returner.

Stud: Zac Dysert, Miami (Ohio)

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In a Week 5 chock full of offense, senior RedHawks QB Zac Dysert did his part by going 34-of-49 for 519 yards, six TDs and zero INTs versus Akron. And if that weren’t enough, he also rushed for an additional 109 yards.

At the end of the day, Miami popped off 709 yards and beat the Zips 56-49.

Stud: Beau Blankenship, Ohio

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Perhaps the biggest “wow” factor in the week from a rushing standpoint, junior RB Beau Blankenship hammered out a whopping 269 yards and two scores on an eye-popping 43 carries in Ohio’s narrow win over UMass.

Studs: Ohio State’s Defense

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The Buckeyes defense held Michigan State to only 34 yards rushing and zero rushing first downs in their huge 17-16 win over the Spartans.

If that doesn’t float your boat, how about the fact that they held Michigan State RB Le’Veon Bell (who had 253 yards last week versus Eastern Michigan and 210 yards in the opener versus Boise State) to a mere 45 yards?

Stud: Antonio Andrews, Western Kentucky

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Unbelievably, the program that just joined the FBS in 2009 and has won only nine games in three seasons is 4-1 after five weeks of play in 2012.

Part of WKU’s stunning success this year can be traced back to junior RB Antonio Andrews, who racked up over 100 yards of rushing in wins over Kentucky and Southern Miss and then blitzed for 215 this past Saturday.

Yes, Andrews’ 215 yards and one score on 29 carries is a big part of the reason the Hilltoppers beat Arkansas State 26-13 to move to 4-1 on the season.

Stud: Quanterus Smith, Western Kentucky

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Senior DL Quanterus Smith registered a whopping 3.5 sacks in Western Kentucky’s 26-13 win over Arkansas State, bringing his sack total on the season up to 6.5, a mark good enough to tie him for No. 3 in the nation.

Stud: Storm Woods, Oregon State

A full 161 of Oregon State’s 180 rushing yards in the Beavers' Saturday-night thriller over Arizona came via freshman RB Storm Woods.

Woods reached the mark on 25 carries and contributed a TD to the bottom line of a 38-35 final score.

Woods is a guy to watch moving forward. His numbers keep improving and the Beavers keep winning. He ran for 36 yards and no scores in the opening win over Wisconsin, he ran for 96 yards and a single score in the win over UCLA, and then he exploded against the Wildcats.

Stud: Kenjon Barner, Oregon

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One of the major factors in Oregon’s somewhat slippery 51-26 win over Washington State on Saturday night was the hard running of senior standout RB Kenjon Barner, who posted his second-best single game stats of the season.

Barner blitzed for 195 yards and 20 carries and took the ball to the house three times. If that weren’t enough, Barner tacked on another 37 yards and an extra TD receiving.

If you want to put Barner’s numbers in perspective, he personally provided 195 of Oregon’s 300 rushing yards on the night.